Have a look at this thread for a starter - No fruit, no wood just below katch to save being caught out.

As to what is illegal to be brought in, there is a whole heap of other stuff like live animals, reptiles or birds, ivory tusks, all manner of weapons, too many prescription drugs and of course all those other drugs.

For a complete list, go have a look at the Australian Customs web site - Customs home page and in particular the Quick link at top right, about hafway down-Guide to prohibited and restricted imports that'll tell just about all and with further links if more detail is sought.

One thing worth mentioning is that a lot of people probably buy soveneirs, often made of timber and varnished etc., and being a souveneir they can easily forget to declare it as wood - Don't forget as it could prove costly in getting a fine and recent border security show, had a guy coming back from Cuba and he had a polished muso instrument that had this beading net about too, very hard looking and painted beads, but Quarantine people considered they could be something that could harbour bugs, and thus $50 for radiation treatment in that case.
Same guy, travelling with new bride also had over allowed ammount of tobacca in three boxes of Cuban cigars (wedding gifts) and he had option of paying duty on whole lot (over $500) or forfeiting them all - he was one very pissed off guy.

Probably if he had declared it all to start with, they may have even taken a lighter approach as to the radiation being needed and maybe even allowed him to have most if not all the cigars given circumstances.

Moral of all this - Do Declare, even if in doubt
As an outgoing passenger and also when issued with a passport you do get brochures with limited information on the DOs and Donts.

I have a bad experience about custom. I was traveling back to Perth from Manila, Philippines. At the custom section, I was questioned about bringing Ice Cream stuff into the country. I didn't see any passage in the short document that was given while onboard. Nothing was mentioned about bringing in ice cream into the country was prohibited.

But, I was still doubtful about the stuff that I brought in. So, I decided to go through custom immigration. To my surprise, I was questioned, and at the end my handgift ice cream boxes were seized. The reason was it contained gasses. My question is, is there any particular gas-contained items (beside ice cream) that aren't allowed into Australia ?

What you cant bring is food, seeds, wood, drugs, dangerous goods like guns or anything else.
The only thing that is allowed is chocolate...
anyway... why would you bring food to australia??? We have shops as well :-P

To my surprise, I was questioned, and at the end my handgift ice cream boxes were seized. The reason was it contained gasses. My question is, is there any particular gas-contained items (beside ice cream) that aren't allowed into Australia ?

Are you talking of actual ice-cream as in stuff you lick/eat?, for that is definitely food.
If you were talking of some ice-cream manufacturing equipment (with gas?) well there would be another set of regulations.

And Julie

Quote:

What you cant bring is food, seeds, wood, drugs, dangerous goods like guns or anything else.

It is not quite as straightforward as that for there are many food items other than chocolate which is OK, as long as it is processed and properly labelled, and even wooden items can be brought in if it is treated and able to bereadily inspected for any bugs etc.
Fire arms can be brought in if you have a licence to use them for legitimate purposes, ie. hunting, sporting etc. and you have the appropriate permits.

It is all a case of following the regulations and having paperwork where applicable and declarations in order.
If you have done that, and there is a hiccup, you stand a good chance of customs and/or quarantine people being co-operative with you to sought it out best way possible - could mean a sterilisation process being applied to wood or even food/plants, paying where you have over imported or having it stored to be taken back out when a visitor leaves.

Julie "why would you bring food to australia??? We have shops as well :-P"

Just because we have shops, does not mean we have all foreign foods. Some people are brought up on some foods, and they would like to keep eating those foods, even if they move to another country.

Plus there is the quality, some of the foreign foods, well, letís just says not all foods from China are the same as foods from the original country. Just like some people will only buy expensive items as they have a reputation for quality, some people want to eat quality foods. We are what we eat after all!

On bringing in acceptable foods, are there any restrictions on the quantity allowed??

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